Being out of postseason contention didn’t make the Sparks’ season finale meaningless.
It was a chance to avoid finishing with a losing record for the first time since 2020. An opportunity to foil the Las Vegas Aces’ push for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs while derailing a 15-game winning streak. And, above all, a matter of pride.
But just as with their season-long goal of reaching the playoffs, the Sparks fell short of their goal, as A’ja Wilson and the Aces dominated in a 103-75 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
The talent gap was stark in the first half, with Las Vegas building a lead that swelled to 22 behind a three-point barrage led by Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray. One of the league’s best three-point shooting teams (34.6% per game entering Thursday), the Aces (30-14) hit 11 threes in the first half to take a 19-point lead by halftime.
The Aces finished with 22 three-pointers — the most ever in a WNBA regular-season game. The Aces already hold the outright record of 23 three-pointers, which they set in the playoffs in 2022.
The trio of Loyd, Gray and Wilson proved too much for a short-handed Sparks squad to handle.
Loyd and Gray reached double figures in scoring by halftime — Loyd with 21 and Gray with 13. Wilson, a front-runner for league MVP, delivered yet another dominant stat line: 23 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
Sparks forward Emma Cannon, left, knocks the ball out of the hands of Las Vegas guard Chelsea Gray during the first half Thursday.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
Former Aces Dearica Hamby and Kelsey Plum tried to will the Sparks (21-23) to one more victory, but it was all for naught. Plum had her hands full with the opposing backcourt, and Hamby drew the unenviable assignment of battling the league’s best in Wilson.
Hamby opened strong, scoring all seven Sparks’ points in the first six minutes as the team tried to feed her in the post. She finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Plum also finished with 15 points in a physical game that featured several players arguing with referees over foul calls.
In the second quarter, Cameron Brink caught a left elbow to the nose from Aces forward NaLyssa Smith under the basket. Blood trickled from Brink’s face onto the hardwood as Brink shouted at the referees after no foul was called.
The training staff escorted her to the locker room with a towel pressed to her face, and she did not return.
Trailing 77-58 at the end of the third quarter, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts put in rookies Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alissa Pili and Sania Feagin.
Barker scored 15 points in 38 minutes. Pilli scored a career-high seven points in six minutes. Feagin finished with four points.
It was a night when defenders draped over Kelsey Plum, her path to the rim often crowded. And when she turned to the officials for relief, the whistles were elusive.
But when it mattered most — that being with 3.3 seconds to play and the Sparks trailing by one — Plum lowered her shoulder and slipped between swiping arms and lunging bodies.
One defender stumbled, another bit on a fake and Plum glided almost untouched into the lane, kissing a floater off the glass as the horn sounded in an 81-80 Sparks escape over the Dallas Wings.
“Just a heck of a finish by her,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said.
Plum’s teammates mobbed her, embracing the veteran who appeared unsatisfied during her seven minutes on the bench and frustrated after Dallas defenders batted away her attempts at the rim. All of it faded, though, once she poured in 10 fourth-quarter points en route to 20 on the night.
“I feel like that’s what basketball is all about — putting on a show for [fans],” the Sparks’ Rickea Jackson said. “Both teams truly did that and everyone enjoyed themselves and got their money’s worth tonight.”
But before the buzzer, the night belonged to Plum, Crypto.com Arena belonged to Paige Bueckers of Dallas. In fact, at times Wednesday night, it seemed as though the Sparks had six players on the floor.
Bueckers drew ovations fit for a home star. With swaths of fans flaunting her face on a T-shirt and spilling over railings for autographs pregame, the Wings rookie rode that backing into a career-high 44 points — tying Cynthia Cooper for a most by a WNBA rookie.
“She’s a phenomenal player, point blank period,” the Sparks’ Cameron Brink said.
The Sparks (17-18) entered Wednesday’s affair with a blueprint for Bueckers, Roberts recognizing pregame that “we let Paige get to the middle which is what she wants to do,” in reference to Bueckers’ then-career-high 29-point performance last Friday against her Sparks.
But Bueckers solved every look the Sparks threw at her. Double-team her high, and she threaded the ball to cutters. Leave her one-on-one, and she buried mid-range jumpers with a composure that belied her rookie tag.
“Paige was unbelievable tonight,” Roberts said. “Did we make some mistakes defensively? Sure. Was she just unconscious and playing at another level? Yes. Just kind of have to tip your hat.”
Yet across the floor from the rookie, L.A. leaned on a pair who had worn that tag just last season.
They were a product of the 2024 draft, a haul that featured Brink at No. 2 and Jackson at No. 4. Their pairing never had the chance to fully bloom last year, Brink suffering a season-ending injury just a month in.
A year later, with Brink healthy and Jackson entrenched in the starting lineup, the Sparks finally cashed in on their draft night selections. On Tuesday, the sophomores saved their team from a five-minute scoring drought to open proceedings against the Wings, spurring a 15-5 spree that stifled the noise that followed Bueckers.
“On both ends, we just looked like we’ve been off for a couple of days,” Jackson said. “I said, ‘Why does it feel like we haven’t played in a minute?’ But we picked it up. The first five minutes was crazy, but we picked it up.”
Applause followed Bueckers all game, but the final word — and the final bucket — belonged to L.A.
Each morning before Cameron Brink pulls on her Sparks jersey, she scans a taped-up collage in her closet. Olympic rings, a WNBA All-Star crest, snapshots with her fiancé and a scatter of Etsy trinkets crowd the board.
The canvas is a handmade constellation of who Brink is and who she longs to be. Between magazine clippings and scribbled affirmations, Brink sees both the grand arc and the small vows that tether her: to show up as a teammate, a daughter and a partner.
“You have a choice every day to have a good outlook or a bad outlook,” said Brink, the Sparks’ starting forward. “I try to choose every day to be positive.”
That choice seemed to matter most when the future felt furthest away. The practice emerged in the thick of a 13-month recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Brink — the Stanford star and Sparks No. 2 draft pick — was forced to measure life in the tiniest ticks of progress after injuring her left knee a month into the 2024 season.
Sparks teammates Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby clap hands as they pass each other on the court during a game against the Storm in Seattle on Aug. 1.
(Soobum Im / Getty Images)
Sparks veteran Dearica Hamby recognized how rehab was grinding down the rookie. One afternoon, she invited Brink to her home, where the dining table was set with scissors, glue sticks, stacks of magazines and knickknacks.
“I’ve always been taught growing up that your mind is your biggest power,” Brink said. “So I’ve always been open to stuff like that. I heavily believe in manifesting what you want and powering a positive mindset.”
Hamby had been building vision boards for years and believed Brink could use the same practice — both as a pastime and as a mechanism to combat the doubts that surfaced during her lengthy and often lonely rehab.
“If she can visualize it, she can train her mind the opposite of her negative thoughts and feelings,” Hamby said. “When you see it, you can believe it. Your brain is constantly feeding itself. And if you have something in the back — those doubts — you need something to counter that.”
The board dearest to Brink wasn’t crowded with stats or accolades. She crafted what she calls her “wonderful life,” layering in snapshots of her fiancé, Ben Felter, and framed by symbols of family and team.
“You’re a product of your mind,” Brink said. “Everything in my life, I feel like I’ve fought and been intentional about.”
Fighting was what the year demanded. However inspiring the boards looked taped inside her closet, the reality was gradual and often merciless.
From the night she was carried off the court last June to the ovation that greeted her return in July, Brink’s progress unfolded in inches — from the day she could stand, to the day she could walk to the day she touched the hardwood again.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, left, and guard Rae Burrell, who are injured, shout and celebrate from the bench after their team scored against the Chicago Sky on June 29.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
“It’s been such a journey,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “Cam’s mentality was just trying not to freak out. She was really focused on not being anxious about it.”
Brink came to practice with her game on a leash, her activity hemmed in by doctors’ timelines. While teammates scrimmaged, she studied sets from the sidelines.
Roberts praised her patient attitude as “great,” a skill Brink sharpened by the ritual of opening her closet and trusting the journey.
Kim Hollingdale, the Sparks’ psychotherapist, worked closely with Brink during her recovery. While bound by confidentiality, she spoke to how manifestation tools can anchor an athlete through the mental strain of long recovery.
“Being able to stay in touch with where we’re ultimately trying to get to can help on those days when it’s feeling crappy,” Hollingdale said. “Visualization helps us be like, ‘OK, look, we’re still heading to that vision. This is part of the journey.’ It gives purpose, direction and a little hope when you’re in the mud of recovery.”
That sense of purpose, she added, is about giving the brain something familiar to return to when progress stalls — a way for the mind to rehearse what the legs can’t.
For Brink, that meant keeping her game alive in pictures she ran through her head. Putbacks in the paint became reruns in her mind, and Hollingdale said the brain scarcely knows the difference: If it sees it vividly enough, the muscles prime themselves as if the movement truly happened.
What mattered wasn’t just mechanics. Tuning out noise became essential as Brink was cleared to return as a WNBA sophomore by calendar yet a rookie by experience. What could have been crushing pressure was dimmed by the vision boards — the “mental rehearsal,” as Hollingdale labeled it.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink shoots a three-pointer against the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 7.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
“I didn’t want to focus on stat lines or accolades coming back from injury,” Brink said. “I learned the importance of enjoying being out there, controlling what I can control, always having a good attitude — that’s what I reframed my mindset to be about.”
During Brink’s return against the Las Vegas Aces on July 29, she snared an offensive rebound and splashed a three-pointer within the first minute. And since, she has posted 5.9 points and four rebounds an outing, headlined by a 14-point performance through 11 minutes against Seattle.
Hollingdale tabbed Brink’s return a rarity. She often prepares athletes to weather the gauntlet of “firsts” — the first shot that clangs, the first whistle, the first crowd cheer — without expecting much beyond survival.
But upon Brink’s return, those firsts weren’t looming unknowns. They were rehearsed memories.
“That is a testament to her being able to manage herself, her emotions and her anxiety and all the stress and pressure,” Hollingdale said. “To come out and make a meaningful difference to your team straight away speaks to the ability to stay locked in and cut out the noise.”
By refusing to sprint through recovery, Hamby said Brink insulated herself from the pressure that shadows young stars. The vision boards, Hamby added, became a tangible expression of Brink’s decision to trust herself.
“She’s done it differently,” Hamby said. “For her, it’s more of a mental thing than a physical thing. She took her time, not listening to people tell her she should have been back sooner.”
When Brink shuts the closet door and heads to Crypto.com Arena for game day, she’s already spent the morning tracing the steps of the night.
On the next blank corner of her canvas?
“Being an All-Star and going to the Olympics,” she said.
Almost hidden in a mocha pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, and wearing those same fire-red Air Jordans from his Aug. 4 return to Los Angeles, Clippers royalty Chris Paul adorned the Sparks’ bench.
And though the 20-year veteran barely lifted a palm — leaving the cheering to his wife and daughter — Paul’s court savvy still seemed to seep across the hardwood, finding its way to the Sparks’ Kelsey Plum.
Plum, who can very well be the tale of any Sparks game, but “chooses to win,” as coach Lynne Roberts says, seemed to be scoring and assisting at will through a coast-to-coast battle against the New York Liberty, a tug-of-war that stayed taut until the rope finally slipped from the Sparks’ grasp, 105-97.
The Sparks’ stalwart finished with 26 points alongside five rebounds and five assists.
“It came down to them scoring 105 points,” Plum said, “like, 97 is a lot of points.”
Across the court, with veteran Breanna Stewart sidelined with a a right knee bone bruise, the internationally seasoned presence of Emma Meesseman assumed control to keep the Liberty’s offense in rhythm, its poise intact and restart its win streak.
Emma Meesseman, who made her Liberty debut soon after Stewart’s exit, looked nothing like someone fresh off a lengthy league layoff on Thursday. The 2019 Finals MVP returned Aug. 3 after a three-year hiatus from the WNBA — time she spent competing for Belgium — and scored a season-high 24 points with nine rebounds.
“She’s one of the best players in the world,” Roberts said, “so, there’s a lot of problems one of the best players in the world can bring you. She’s got great hands, … she’s just good. She’s so smart, skilled, big, she changes their team.”
Stewart took the hit to her knee during the last edition of the East-West rivalry on July 26. And that was also a game before Sparks sophomore star Cameron Brink returned from a 13-month-long left knee injury.
About three minutes before halftime, Brink sat on the bench while trainers wrapped her left ankle during a Sparks timeout. She never joined the team’s halftime huddle as play resumed after the break, and when she finally emerged at the 6:17 mark in the third quarter, she watched the rest of the game from her seat.
“I have not talked to the medical team yet,” Roberts said, “but yeah, she tweaked her ankle. She’s still on a minutes restriction, so the decision was made not to put her back in.”
In absence of the Sparks’ most threatening defensive presence, though, Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevens policed the key and cleaned up under the rim to ensure the Sparks stayed close. The two combined for 38 points and 12 rebounds, but couldn’t produce the same pressure defensively.
“We’ve got to do a better job defensively,” Roberts said in reference to the Liberty’s 50% shooting from three and 55.9% from the field. “I have not lost an ounce of faith or confidence in them [the Sparks], just a tough night for us tonight.
The loudest battle, however, seemed to be the fans versus the officials.
Fans groaned and barked over whistles — and the no-calls in between — as the night wore on. Roberts shared the mood, zeroing in on referee Tyler Mirkovich during a defensive sequence late in the second quarter. She sustained dialogue through the ensuing timeout, punctuating her point with a seemingly sarcastic double thumbs-up in Mirkovich’s direction.
“I mean, I would appreciate being communicated to from an official,” Roberts said. “Nothing will piss a coach off more than not being communicated to.”
Whether the whistles were with merit, no call was going to bail the Sparks out of a 10-point ditch with 22 seconds left to play.
Less than 10 days ago, the Seattle Storm and the Sparks battled deep into a second overtime — the first of the 2025 WNBA season — wringing every drop of drama out of Climate Pledge Arena. On Sunday night, the same stakes were at play as the teams tried to strengthen their playoff chances.
The intensity didn’t let up till the final horn. With 5.6 seconds left, Dearica Hamby roared into the paint and scored on a driving layup to put the Sparks ahead for good. After the Storm missed their final chance to win, pandemonium spilled onto the floor — Sparks players leaping into one another’s arms, fans hollering over the hardwood, chanting “Hamby” in celebration of the Sparks’ 94-91 victory.
In addition to Hamby’s last-minute heroics, Kelsey Plum proved vital to helping the Sparks win for the ninth time in 11 games. She finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts has painted Plum as a shape-shifter — able to twist her game into whatever the game demands.
“That’s what your best players should do — get everybody else involved and make sure we’re flowing,” Roberts said before the game, “and then when they need you, you step up. She’s done a tremendous job.”
Trailing the Storm (16-16) by 17 in the first quarter, Plum, who still hadn’t scored yet, tore into a one-on-five fast break, freezing the defense with a hesitation at the arc and a glide into the basket for an and-1.
Seconds later, Plum created another opportunity off an extended right elbow, drilling a three-pointer in Erica Wheeler’s face.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, right, drives against Seattle guard Brittney Sykes in the fourth quarter Sunday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
It was the spurt of momentum the Sparks (15-16) needed to overcome a sputtering start.
Playing the entire first half, Plum went from the table-setter to shot-maker in the second quarter — springing Rae Burrell for a corner three before splashing a triple to tie the score 29-29 early in the second quarter.
Azurá Stevens and Cameron Brink were strong in the key early, but the Sparks clanked jumpers, dribbled into traffic and watched offensive possessions die on the rim in addition to committing eight first-quarter turnovers. So Roberts rolled the dice on a smaller look — swapping her paint patrol of Stevens and Brink for guards Julie Vanloo and Burrell.
Plum and Julie Allemand kept the smaller unit in constant motion, whipping passes from wing to wing and slicing open lanes for Burrell and Rickea Jackson, while Vanloo, Allemand and Plum cashed in from beyond the arc. Roberts rode that group into the second quarter, and they eventually whittled the deficit.
When the final buzzer faded, players were still grinning through hugs, and the crowd’s enthusiasm continued — excitement for a Sparks team that had yanked itself out of the fire.
The Indiana Fever arrived in Los Angeles draped in momentum: Five straight wins, a knack for winning without Caitlin Clark and betting lines tilting their way. Their tear was proof they could keep pace even with their franchise centerpiece in street clothes.
But another storyline might’ve been tucked beneath Indiana’s.
The Sparks had ripped off six wins in their previous seven outings, probably fueled by the rare luxury of having every piece of their roster back for the first time in more than a year. And by night’s end at Crypto.com Arena, they had won seven of eight, the Sparks grinding out a 100-91 victory.
“Tonight was a great step in the right direction,” guard Kelsey Plum said. “That’s an incredible team, and they’re as hot as anyone. … They got everything it takes to make a run for a championship. So for us to come out and have that level of intensity, I was really proud.”
Sidelined since July 15 with a right groin injury, Clark never touched the hardwood Tuesday. But her presence was impossible to miss.
About an hour before tip‑off, Clark entered the arena to a wave of shrieks. Fans crammed shoulder‑to‑shoulder against the banisters and barricades, stretching jerseys, bobbleheads and posters toward her for autographs. But once the ball went up, Clark left her imprint not in ink but as an assistant coach to her Fever squad.
For all of Clark’s fire from the bench, the Sparks (13-15) seized on her absence to wrest control from one of the league’s hottest teams and move closer to a playoff berth.
“We’ve got enough pieces and talents to make a playoff run,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “We just got to keep our foot on the gas. As I always say, we didn’t come into the season saying we wanted to beat Indiana at home. We came in the season saying we want to make the playoffs.”
Roberts, who has spent much of the season juggling lineups amid injuries and roster turnover, can finally exhale, with a healthy starting five, Cameron Brink back in uniform and a bench ready to contribute.
With stable rotations came steady results. Plum set the night’s tempo, piling up 25 points and 11 assists. Around her, the Sparks’ scoring core — Rickea Jackson matching with 25, Dearica Hamby dropping 16 and Azurá Stevens racking up 19 — kept the scoreboard humming. Julie Allemand steered the offense in sync, dishing out seven assists to go with five points and eight rebounds.
We all in this room know she [Plum] can go for 40,” Roberts said, “but she wants to win more than go for 30. And if going for 40 is what it takes to win, then she’ll do it. But tonight, she gained so much attention from the other team’s scouting report — as she should — but she’s … trying to win.”
Midway through the first quarter, Brink checked in, snagged a couple of boards, and promptly stuffed a shot by 6‑foot‑2 Natasha Howard for the first of five rejections on the night.
“We’re just getting that chemistry on and off the court,” Jackson said. “But when we’re playing like that and feeding off each other’s energy, that’s fine, and that’s when we’re going on our runs, and that’s when we’re not flinching because we trust each other that much.”
After Rae Burrell spun in an acrobatic layup to put the Sparks ahead 32‑30, they never loosened their grip, stretching the lead to 90‑68 midway through the third quarter. But Aari McDonald and Kelsey Mitchell sparked a 21‑5 run that, suddenly, had the game uncomfortably tight with under two minutes remaining.
But in a building where wins have been scarce, the Sparks clutched this one tight and handed it back to the L.A. faithful.
Sex toy tossed on court
A sex toy landed near Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham after it was thrown from the stands.
The incident occurred with 2:05 left in the second quarter, with the object landing in the lane near Cunningham, who had been vocal on social media admonishing fans for throwing sex toys on the court during other games. The Fever forward jumped back in surprise and then Plum kicked it into the stands.
“I think its ridiculous, it’s dumb, it’s stupid,” Roberts said. “It’s also dangerous and players’ safety is number one. Respecting the game. All those things. I think it’s really stupid.”
Plum added that she thought both teams did a great job “playing on, don’t give it any attention. The refs too, I really appreciate them too, was just like hey let’s go.”
Cunningham walked over to the Sparks bench and was laughing about it.
Thirteen months after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament, Sparks forward Cameron Brink made her season debut, stepping onto the court at the 2:39 mark of the first quarter.
Brink looked comfortable despite the long layoff, jumping into the midseason contest intensity with confidence. She was active and competitive throughout, playing 13 minutes and 55 seconds during her return.
“We’re thrilled to have her back, and I’m incredibly proud of her,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “She’s on a minutes restriction. … I told her that she needs to enjoy the moment. … It’s a hard injury to come back from mentally and physically, and she’s done it with a smile on her face.”
But the night marked the end of the WNBA’s longest active winning streak, as the Sparks fell 89-74 to the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Sparks (11‑15) trailed by double digits for most of the game and couldn’t recover against the surging Aces (14‑13), who extended their lead to as much as 21 points.
In the third matchup between the two teams this season, the Sparks came out a bit hesitant, while the Aces were the aggressors from the tip.
“That was the worst shooting we’ve had all season,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to be able to defend. It’s knowing personnel, it’s knowing tendency, it’s staying locked into the game plan even when they score the first eight points.”
The Aces leaned on strong starts from Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson, who combined for 34 points in the first half.
Wilson finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while Young recorded a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Dearica Hamby remained a bright spot for the Sparks, contributing 15 points and six rebounds. Hamby was named WNBA Western Conference player of the week after leading the Sparks to three wins, including a road victory over the defending champion New York Liberty on Saturday.
Kelsey Plum added 22 points, five rebounds and eight assists in the loss. Brink had five points, including a three-pointer, three rebounds, one block and one steal in 14 minutes of play.
“I was really proud of her,” Plum said of Brink. “I told her after the game, ‘It’s very impressive to come in, make the impact that you did.’ … I think she’s gonna continue to just help us a ton.”
The Sparks, who had been rolling offensively, were startled by their difficulty scoring.
“We have been so used to making shots and so I think it caught us off guard a little bit,” Roberts said.
The Sparks will look to regroup before playing the Storm in Seattle Friday night.
It has been more than a year since Cameron Brink suited up for the Sparks, and excitement is building around the return of one of the team’s biggest stars.
Sidelined by a torn ACL and meniscus, Brink has steadily progressed through drills and contact work since training camp.
Head coach Lynne Roberts, who spoke with her last week, said Brink is making significant progress and is champing at the bit to get back on the court.
There’s no set timeline, as the team remains cautious about pushing her too hard during recovery. At this point, her return depends on when team doctors and Brink agree she’s ready.
“I want to know as much as you do about when she’ll be back — and I don’t,” Roberts said. “It’ll be sooner rather than later, but soon could be a couple of weeks or it could be a month. I don’t know.”
Dearica Hamby, who is close with Brink, said she has seen “the commitment it takes not to give up and show up and pour into herself and her teammates — and being optimistic about getting back.”
Mounting frustrations
Through 17 games, the Sparks are 5-12 — just one win better than their start last season — but there’s confidence they can eventually turn the tide with a healthier roster.
Still, the process has been frustrating, not just because of the losses, but because of how many of them unfolded.
“If we don’t show up and play collectively, with a spirit, we’ll get beat,” Roberts said. “We’ve learned the hard way, too many times this year. Chicago was a good example — we had that game and just fell apart. Really frustrating.”
The return of Odyssey Sims, who missed time for personal reasons, and Julie Allemand, fresh off a EuroBasket championship, has brought renewed optimism.
“Part of the team I signed up to coach is getting close to being back,” Roberts said.
Hamby said the frustration is felt “individually and collectively, at each level — upper staff, lower staff.”
“We’re going to take those frustrations and build off them so we can learn from them to be better,” she added.
The road ahead doesn’t get easier. The Sparks now face a tough three-game trip against the defending champion New York Liberty, the Indiana Fever with a potentially returning Caitlin Clark and the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx.
With making the playoffs still a goal, the team currently sits 11th in the standings, as the gap continues to widen between contenders and those on the outside looking in.
Burrell practices
Rae Burrell is off crutches for the first time in six weeks after suffering a knee injury in the season opener.
Initially given a six- to eight-week timeline for recovery, Burrell returned to practice right on schedule and has begun working toward game action. The team is easing her back now that the broken bone in her knee is fully healed.
“We don’t want to throw her into the fire right off the bat,” Roberts said. “Today was her first day out there, but no contact was allowed.”
Roberts said Burrell’s reintroduction probably will move quickly based on updates from the training staff. She will travel with the team and is expected to absorb more contact starting with tomorrow’s practice. Depending on her progress, her return to the rotation could come as early as Saturday against the Fever.
“She’s amped up,” Roberts said. “She doesn’t look tired like the rest of them — got bounce in her legs. She’s ready to roll. So it’d be good to get her back there, bringing athleticism and length to our perimeter.”
Last November, gathered along the concourse of Crypto.com Arena, newly appointed Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts issued a clear directive on her first day for the 2025 season: to win. A tall order coming off the worst season in franchise history.
Seated beside her, general manager Raegan Pebley, certain she had chosen the right leader to revive a franchise that had tumbled far from its championship standard, echoed Roberts’ belief.
Five months later, back on that very concourse, Roberts’ message remained unmistakable: “We’re not just happy to be here. … We want to compete, and every time we put on that jersey, we want to win.”
The message, trickling down from the Sparks’ front office to the coaching staff to the players, is unified — it’s not a rebuild, nor a restart, but a reclamation.
After years of decline, an offseason injection of capital followed by a franchise-altering trade and the signing (and re-signing) of championship-experienced veterans, signaled a push to restore the reputation of a flagship WNBA team in one of the league’s marquee markets.
While desire alone won’t guarantee victories, especially for a team with just eight last season, this season has already started on a promising note with a dominant 84-67 victory that spoiled the expansion Golden State Valkyries’ first regular-season game on Friday.
With last year behind them, the focus is on ending a four-year playoff drought.
“I haven’t been shy about saying I want to make the playoffs,” Roberts said on what first-year success looks like. “With the roster we have, we can. Is it going to be hard? Yeah, climbing is hard. Changing things is hard.”
For a reclamation to take hold and a climb back into playoff relevance to become a reality, the Sparks will rely on the dogged leadership of their newest star, Kelsey Plum, acquired in a three-team trade in January. The fiery floor general is not just here to run the point. She’s here to lead.
A fresh voice on the team, Plum brings a superstar stature to complement fellow All-Star Dearica Hamby. Their reunion is a full-circle moment. After six seasons and a championship together in Las Vegas, they’re back on the same side, this time with something to prove in L.A.
“It’s no mystery that they’re our best players, and when your best players are also your hardest workers, they lead by trying to empower,” Roberts said. “The most impactful part is that they do it without ego. They’re very confident. … It’s impossible as a young player not to be affected by that. … But it’s in a way that’s never threatening or intimidating.”
This season, the team will lean on the duo’s championship pedigree, counting on them to instill the mindset and habits of a winning culture. So far, the two have led in different but equally impactful ways.
In stepping into a new leadership role, Plum sets the tone with fierce competitiveness, pushing younger teammates through example and empowerment. Hamby counters with understanding and steadiness, serving as a calming presence and mentor. This dichotomy of leadership styles could prove instrumental in a locker room filled with rookies and rising stars.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, bringing the ball up the court while defended by Valkyries guard Kate Martin, had 37 points, six assists and five steals in a season-opening win Friday.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
Plum arrives with an impressive list of accolades — two-time champion, three-time All-Star, Sixth Woman of the Year, Olympic gold medalist. Those credentials could easily stoke ego or entitlement, but by all accounts, her demeanor in the locker room is anything but that. Teammates describe her as grounded and approachable. They’ve quickly rallied behind her.
“I enjoy coming to work every day,” said forward Rickea Jackson, entering her second season. “To be part of something like this, it’s a breath of fresh air. Some people try to overstep or be a stickler, but she [Plum] does just enough. She says just enough. Her energy speaks for itself — she doesn’t have to feel like she has to go out and get respect.”
For Plum, this season is about fulfilling the blueprint Pebley and Roberts outlined in their first conversation. Their shared commitment to restoring the Sparks’ championship standard — something the franchise hasn’t lived up to in nearly a decade — convinced Plum to approve the trade months ago.
“Everything starts and ends with vision — you operate out of a vision,” Plum said. “In life, you’ve got to adapt and continue to grow and get better. And I understand there’s been a lull here, and everyone’s aware of that. … I’m here to not only build culture, but affect winning, and I think they’re on the same trajectory.”
After years of contributing to championship-caliber teams, Plum is champing at the bit to lead her own squad. She believes that focusing on executing the game plan and driving team success will naturally lead to individual accolades.
“There are a lot of players who can put up empty stats, but for me, it’s about how I can help this team win,” Plum said. “I understand where we were last year, and my goal is to significantly change that.”
Statistically, Hamby and Plum rank among the WNBA’s elite duos. Last season, Hamby led the team, averaging 17.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Plum brings added offensive depth with a top-10 scoring average (17.8 points) and precision shooting from beyond the arc — she was third in the league with 110 made three-pointers.
After one game, the two are already thriving under Roberts’ new system, which stresses freedom — freedom to stretch the floor, create more open three-point opportunities and boost offensive output through a “positionless” approach. Plum scored 37 points — the most ever in a WNBA season opener — while Hamby recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Valkyries.
“It’s clear they have on-court chemistry,” Roberts said. “They’re not afraid to use their voice. … I can call something, and then those two are kind of whispering about how they’re going to run an audible, and it almost always works.”
As a team, everyone from decade-long veterans such as Plum and Hamby to rookies Sarah Ashlee Barker and Sania Feagin, is learning the system together, fostering a shared urgency to get on the same page and reap the benefits of a reset.
“I feel like we are ahead of the curve in terms of our newness,” said Jackson of the reimagined Sparks. “Everyone’s a hooper, everybody’s a dog. You can tell we just want to win at the end of the day… We hold each other accountable, and no one takes it personally.”
At their core, the Sparks are a youthful roster. Jackson, Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell — all under 25 — were starters last season and represent the foundation of the team’s future.
For now, Jackson appears poised to take a step forward from the start. She spent the offseason sharpening her skills in Unrivaled, the women’s professional three-on-three basketball league.
Jackson’s play has many picking her as the WNBA’s next breakout star — a high bar that comes with even higher pressure for last year’s No. 4 overall draft pick. A standout from one of the deeper draft classes in recent memory, Jackson is expected to ascend from rookie starter to potential All-Star.
Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, right, gets past Valkyries forward Monique Billings for a layup during a season-opening win on Friday.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
Burrell also benefited from Unrivaled, but she suffered an apparent knee injury in Friday’s opener against the Valkyries and had to be carried off the court by teammates. It’s unclear how much time she could miss, but it might be significant.
Brink, Jackson’s rookie classmate, is still rehabbing from aknee injury. On media day, she offered a positive update, saying she feels confident about her recovery.
Barring setbacks, Brink is expected back around the All-Star break in mid-July. She participated in parts of training camp, building chemistry with Plum, but was occasionally absent and seen in a walking boot due to “foot discomfort,” per the team. The organization remains cautious in its approach and says Brink “continues to move in a positive direction.”
Azurá Stevens is stepping up to fill the frontcourt gap in Brink’s absence. A former champion with the Chicago Sky, now in her second stint in L.A., Stevens also competed in Unrivaled this offseason. She helped lead Rose BC to the inaugural championship.
Pebley and Roberts shaped the roster through close collaboration. While they aligned on many decisions and diverged on others, Pebley says every move stemmed from open dialogue and thoughtful debate.
Now in her second year as GM, Pebley is intrinsically linked to Roberts, with their roster-building synergy central to the team’s foundation. A unified approach is believed to give Roberts, an accomplished leader with 27 years of college coaching experience but new to the pros, the best chance to succeed in her first WNBA season and years to come.
“We are really working hard to make sure that we’re building to a win-now mentality, but also win in the future,” Pebley said. “And there’s a balance. … There’s a lot of thoughtfulness that has to go into all of these decisions to make that happen.”
Against the Valkyries, the starting lineup featured Plum — the lone newcomer — alongside 12-year veteran Odyssey Sims in the backcourt, Jackson and Hamby at forward with Stevens anchoring the frontcourt. The plan is to stick with this lineup until Brink returns.
Winning is at the forefront this season. The hope is that the organization has built a roster around Plum and Hamby, a pair of All-Stars capable leading the team on a postseason run. .
Plum is ready for the task.
“I was put in this position to be able to carry a heavier load,” Plum said. “And I have broad shoulders.”
